– picture courtesy of Sinar Harian
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has publicly apologised to the Malaysian people over the 1MDB debacle.
In a statement read by his son Datuk Mohd Nizar at the Kuala Lumpur court complex on Thursday (Oct 24), Najib expressed deep sorrow over the 1MDB corruption incident that occurred during his tenure as prime minister and finance minister.
He said he decided to make the statement after much reflection over 26 months in jail following developments over 1MDB-related issues.
"It pains me to know the 1MDB debacle happened under my watch as the minister of finance and prime minister.
"For that, I would like to apologise unreservedly to the Malaysian people," he said.
He also said he was in deep shock knowing the extent of the "wretched and unconscionable shenanigans" that happened in 1MDB.
"I have already been punished politically but as I am clearly not the mastermind and neither did I collaborate with Jho Low as recent events have shown, I should not be victimised legally," he said.
Reflecting on the past, Najib acknowledged that he should have acted differently when suspicions about 1MDB first arose.
"I did initiate various investigations but I was inclined to believe the explanations by the board and management."
When he began to suspect misconduct, his immediate concerns centred on 1MDB's financial struggles and the potential damage to diplomatic relations, he said.
Najib also highlighted the recent court hearings in Switzerland, where PetroSaudi executives were convicted, and an article by The Edge, which further analysed the case using internal PetroSaudi emails.
These revelations, he said, showed that he was not the mastermind and did not collaborate with Jho Low in deceiving 1MDB of its funds.
He said The Edge's article concluded that PetroSaudi and Jho Low had deceived him, adding that he was unaware of PetroSaudi's siphoning of 1MDB money and that he did not knowingly receive funds from the transactions.
"As hard as it is for some people to fathom, I was advised and honestly believed at the time that the funds I received were political donations from Saudia Arabia.
"As established by court proceedings, there were indeed two confirmed large donations in 2010 from the Government of Saudia Arabia.
"Those were not the subject of any criminal nor civil proceedings," he said.
While feeling "deep regret" over the events at SRC and 1MDB, Najib maintained that being legally held accountable for actions he neither initiated nor knowingly enabled is "unfair," and expressed hope that the judicial process will eventually prove his innocence.
Najib, who is facing four charges of abusing his position to obtain RM2.3bil from 1MDB and another 21 money laundering charges involving the same amount, will know on Oct 30 whether he has to enter his defence.
Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah will decide whether to call Najib to enter his defence on the charges or to acquit him of the charges.
